Indian Hills Middle

1180 E Sanders Rd, Sandy, Utah 84094
801-826-7100

April 14, 2026 – Minutes

School Community Council Meeting Minutes:

April 14, 2026

Attending: Rochelle Griffin, Shelly Karren, Patrick Latimer, Becca Van De Graaff, Amy Shaw, Tonya Rauch, Cinnamin Morton, Denise Avey, Nicole, Zac Watne

Agenda:

  • Welcome & Approve Meeting Minutes (Griffin)
    • Ms. Avey moved to approve March minutes, Mr. Latimer seconded the motion. Motion unanimously approved.
  • SCC Members returning for 2026-27
    • Ms. Griffin asked if everyone would run again for SCC.  She is returning.
    • Ms. Morton will be returning to work so she will not be on SCC next year.
    • Ms. Avey thinks she will run again or her husband will run.
    • Mr. Watne will return.
    • Mr. Latimer will return.
    • Ms. Griffin will check to see if Ms. Cupello and Ms. Comer will be returning.
    • Ms. Shaw is finishing her 2nd year as the staff member on the committee. 
    • Ms. Samantha will be the Wellness staff representative next year as Ms. Van De Graaff is moving to Boise.
  • Bylaws review
    • Ms. Griffin sent a Google Doc out to the committee with the changes to our by-laws.  Asked if the committee preferred to read through the document and discuss next time
    • Bylaws were projected for a group discussion of the changes.
    • Ms. Griffin reviewed the Bylaws with the group.
    • Does the group prefer to keep the voting members at 10? 10 is the cap for voting members.
    • Mr. Watne asked a clarifying question about the need for 2 more parents than staff members.  Ms. Karren clarified.
    • Ms. Griffin made a motion to keep it at 10 voting members.  Mr. Watne seconded the motion.  Motion unanimously approved.
    • Ms. Griffin asked the group to decide how we should handle member attendance.  Does the group prefer 2 or 3 unexcused absences to be used as grounds for removal?
    • Ms. Shaw made a motion to use 2 unexcused absences for grounds for removal.  Mr. Latimer seconded the motion.  Motion unanimously approved.
    • Ms. Griffin asked if there were questions or further discussion.  There were no questions or discussion.
  • Ms. Griffin lead a discussion on moving our meetings to the second Tuesdays of the month for 2026-27 school year
    • Discussion amongst the members
    • Ms. Griffin makes a motion to move meetings to the second Tuesdays of the month.  Ms. Avey seconded the motion.  Motion unanimously approved.
  • Student Center Updates (Van de Graaff)
    • Continuing to work on schedules for next year
      • Latinos in Action completed their applications and selected
      • Dance auditions happened before spring break
      • Support classes are being scheduled for those that need it
      • Counselors will create the first draft of the schedule on Monday
    • Final in-class lesson in 7th Social Studies will happen tomorrow
    • Continuing to meet with students on an as-needed basis
    • Counselors will assist with “on time-on task”
    • Ms. Griffin asked clarifying question about opting out of Digital Literacy
      • Ms. Van De Graaff explained the state course substitution form and how it works (substituting one class for another), explained educational release
      • Ms. Karren added information about the reasons for the Digital Literacy switch from 8th to 6th and how we are facilitating the switch
  • PTSA Updates (Nicole)
    • Ms. Lyon is working on an application for a PTA art grant that would be used to support the new Drama Squad
    • Secondary PTA is looking for a President
    • Memory Books are done and being printed – they will be distributed on May 28th.  There are 100 extra that students can buy for $30 (cash only) on May 28th.
    • Their last meeting will be May 11th – they will be voting in next year’s Executive Board.
    • Staff Appreciation Week – 1st week of May
      • Cinco de Mayo theme
      • Nacho bar, Thirsty Thursday, Friday thank yous
    • 8th grade Dance will be May 21st 3-4pm “Let’s Glow”
    • PTA Convention in May
    • Ms. Griffin asked if they needed volunteers for Teacher Appreciation week- volunteers will be needed
  • School Updates (Karren)
    • School-wide disclosure updates
      • Secondary schools are working on unifying grading scales – weighting for students’ grades will change to 75% assessments and 25% assignments
      • Adopting the high school grading scale
      • Citizenship will be aligned to the Canyons School District Portrait of a Scholar
      • Ms. Griffin expressed her concerns with the weights of assessments and assignments.  Worried about the heavier weight placed on assessments
      • Ms. Karren explained that our re-take policies will remain the same.  This is moving more towards competency/mastery based learning.
      • Ms. Griffin asked if students still care about the 25% assignments if assessments are weighted so heavily.
      • Ms. Shaw explained that students do learn that without doing assignments, they will struggle with passing the assessments.
      • Ms. Avey shared that her 7th grade student has been very excited about the projects he’s been working on.  Expressed her thoughts that middle school is the place to figure out the importance of practice/assignments.
      • Ms. Van De Graaff shared that a lot of students they do academic check-ins with don’t know that grades are weighted differently.  Students are mostly looking at missing assignments.
    • Chromebook use for 2027
      • Ms. Karren explained the new legislation regarding usage of technology; there is an “opt-in” option for parents if they want the Chromebook to be sent home.  Ms. Karren explained that there are still lots of questions about this topic (i.e. cost, equity). 
      • Room for discussion on who is taking Chromebooks home, if we keep them at school, how do we facilitate that.
      • Ms. Avey asked how that would work for students to complete homework at home.
      • Ms. Morton asked how the legislation is worded regarding who can take the Chromebook home. 
      • Ms. Karren explained that the district is still in discussion about how we balance continued high-level learning with technology access. 
      • Ms. Morton explained her perspective on Chromebook usage and her thoughts on what is best for students.
    • Testing schedule 2026
      • 8th Writing on April 23 & 24th
      • 1 week dedicated for each test (ELA, Math & Science) – won’t take the whole week but since students test only in their content class, we plan for the whole week
      • We encourage students to do their best.  Great data gathered by these tests.  PBIS rewards built in to our system for being “on time and on task”
    • Year-end activities
      • Our 1st annual Drama Squad’s “Night of Nonsense” – please attend next Thursday or Friday.  Thank you to Ms. Samantha for all her hard work!
      • Thursday, May 21 – 8th grade celebration from 3-4pm
      • Yearbook Day – Thursday, May 28 (not same day as Alta graduation)
      • Dance concerts, Choir concerts, Band/Orchestra concerts coming soon.
    • Staffing Updates
      • Ms. Karren shared our staffing updates – we have hired a new math teacher to replace Ms. Hofmann, a new counselor to replace Ms. Van De Graaff and our new ABS unit staff, including a behavior specialist
  • Land Trust/TSSP review and finalize plan (Karren)
    • Our plan is in the process of being approved by the district.
    • Thank you to the SCC for support and input on our plan.
    • Will be posted on the website by May

Final meeting: May 5th @ 4:00 p.m.  Warrior Room